The Red Shield
by de4deye117
Summary: 1944, a mercenary organization who utilizes tanks into their line of work, has been hired by a neutral country to help defend it from an inbound invasion.
1. The Job

**The Red Shield**

**Chapter 1**

"**The Job"**

[March 3rd, 1944]

Somewhere outside of Paris in France, in an abandoned manufacturing plant that used to build the French B1 Bis heavy tanks for the army. Arnolf Bussche was just finishing on adding improvements to his _Panzerkampfwagen Vl Tiger Ausf.E _in the central manufacturing line. "Zhere, zhat should do it" Arnolf said wiping his sweaty forehead.

Arnolf Bussche lived in Germany his entire childhood outside of Kiongsburg, his father was a veteran of the first great war and his mother was a cook for a nearby hospital. At the age of 6, Arnolf expressed interest in his father's war stories, his father would tell him of the life in the trenches and how he would here the occasional artillery shell whistle through the air until it reached its target. There would be times that his father would have to leave the relative safety of his trench and into the dangerous perils of No-Man's Land. There were so many stories his father told, all the same about leaving the trenches and facing machine gun fire, until at the age of 13 when his father mentioned the armored beasts that rolled across the land. After that Arnolf became intrigued by the idea of metal war machines laying waste to enemy infantry and defensive positions and pursued a career in tank design for the Third Reich.

"Hey" a voice echoed from the far end of the manufacturing plant "You done yet with your tank? Mine still needs that gun-rammer and a tune-up". Arnolf recognized that voice and replied "Ja het ene moment" and began to climb down the front of his Tiger tank. That voice belonged to his good friend Leonard Martineau, to others he is known as "The Guardian Angel". Leonard was born in Switzerland to a rich family who operated with the banks, during his time he worked in the Red Cross to give medical aid to those in need. When the war broke out, Leonard wanted to fight but his parents wouldn't allow it. At the age of 19 he met Arnolf when he was on vacation, Arnolf presented Leonard his tank designs as well as his expressed hatred for the Third Reich. Then, an idea came to fruit, with Arnolf's designs and Leonard's inheritance money, they were able to form a mercenary organization known as the "Red Shield".

Leonard spoke as Arnolf walked next to him "I noticed the ARL was showing a bit engine lag and it died on us during the last contract", Arnolf asked "You used zhe right kind of fuel for it ja? French engines are . . . delicate". Leonard stated "Yea, you made it clear when you brought that load of barrels last week" Arnolf thought about what could possibly cause the ARL 44's engines to stall. They walked past through a set of double doors and into another portion of the plant where Leonard's ARL is stored. Arnolf noticed Leonard's tank crew was sitting on the sideline playing poker with beer, Arnolf then said "Alright friend, give me a lift". Leonard cupped his hands together and allowed Arnolf to place his right boot into it, without giving a word Leonard gave all his might and lifted Arnolf to the ARL's engine deck and after a moment he asked "Well?". Arnolf examined the exterior for any damage, there wasn't any, he then took a discarded power tool and unbolted the vent plating that protected the engine. He examined the engine compartment a little further and found the problem "Zhere it is, let's see here". Leonard gave a concerned look and asked "Arnolf, what's the problem? This is my tank we're talking about here". Arnolf stated "Zhere's something stuck in between the rotary belt and one of the engines piston, one moment. How did you get in zhere my little friend." and began to pull. Leonard's crew watched from their poker game as Arnolf continued pulling and wedging the object back and forth, Leonard asked "What is it?" Arnolf spoke in a concerned tone "You may want to step back for zhe moment". This comment prompted Leonard to take several steps back as Arnolf continued to pull and wedge the object.

Suddenly a loud thud rang throughout the plant and Arnolf fell backwards and nearly fell off the rear of the ARL. In Arnolf's hands, was a German _Model 24 Stielhandgranate_, Leonard's jaw slowly opened and muttered "Holy shit". Arnolf laughed and stated "You my dear friend are very lucky, had zhis wunderfa device detonated, your entire panzer would have been turned into a hulking piece of twisted hot metal". It could be said by Leonard that Arnolf always enjoyed danger, even if it laid in his hands, Leonard said with concern "Okay Arnolf, let's get rid of it before it does go off". Arnolf looked at Leonard as if he wasn't aware of his friend's presence and said "Ja, your panzer's engine and a gun rammer like you requested", he then casually tossed the grenade behind him and began repairing the engine. As he worked on the ARL's engine he called out "Hans!", in another room there was an answer "Ja meneer?", Arnolf ordered "Bring me zhat gun rammer from that amerikan jagd-panzer, zhe one with the 7.5c.m" a response was heard "Ja!" and Arnolf resumed his work.

After sometime, another man walked through the double doors with his bike and a bag containing letters, the man calls out "Hey Martineau! Got a contract here!" and holds out an envelope to Leonard. Leonard takes the envelope and examines it, he became confused as he read the sender "Swiss Parliament" and reads the contract. After reading over it several times, Leonard calls out "Hey Arnolf, we got a contract here from Switzerland" Arnolf comes out of the engine compartment and said "Ja? A contract from your home? Let me see". Leonard hands Arnolf the contract papers, after reading it he orders "Hans! Zo hell with the gun-rammer! Go get the 9c.m from zhat French panzer we scrapped, and don't forget about zhe ammunition or you'll never hear zhe end of it!"


	2. Homecoming

**The Red Shield**

**Chapter 2**

"**Homecoming"**

[March 25th, 1944]

The transportation train was now arriving at a train station just outside of the Swiss border, as the train came to a full stop Leonard leaped of the train car that carried his ARL 44 and began to walk towards the crane operators who were on lunch break. "Hey, when you're done with your lunch break, we need you guys to help unload the contents from car twenty-three and thirteen got it?" Leonard said in his native language, the operators nodded excessively as they chewed their food. Leonard then found Arnolf climbing down the car that carried his Tiger, they both met by the stations passenger area, "Well what did zhey say?" Arnolf asked. Leonard answered "As soon as they're done with their scheduled break they'll unload twenty-three and thirteen" as he pointed at the cranes. "Wunderfa, Bastion platoon will be zhe hardest zo unload but on zhe bright side, our leich panzers will be able zo roll off with no complications". Leonard grinned as he patted his friend's shoulder "Alright lets go see our contractors, they should be inside here" he said as the two entered the station. As they entered the station they found a door guarded by two men armed with German made _Gewehr 43 _semi-automatic rifles. As the two tankers came up to the door, the guards went into a stance preventing entrance, "You are not authorized here, leave" one guard said with a deep voice but Leonard argued "We're the Red Shield organization, your government has hired us for a job". The guards glanced at each other and finally one of them nudged his head towards the door "Inside" he ordered.

Inside the room there were two men in business suits sitting on the far side of a table that sat in the middle of the room, one of them held out his hand gesturing to the tankers to 'take a seat'. The other man cleared his throat and spoke "It is very good to see you here, hopefully that's a sign that your organization is willing to help us". Arnolf replied "Ja meneer, we brought several platoons of panzers with us, we could have brought more but our organization has other contracts zo attend zo". The man who gestured said with concern "Really? Well I hope your platoons can hold off the Third Reich's PanzerWaffe divisions". Leonard glances at Arnolf and then asks "Why the hell would Hitler want to attack Switzerland? It's a neutral country". Arnolf spoke angrily towards Leonard "You zhink zhe Furher cares about neutrality!? Zell zhat zo Belgium and Denmark!" the second businessman raised his hands as an effort to calm Arnolf and said "Well with your organization's resources and our natural defensive lines, you can stop Hitler's panzer corps dead in their tracks". Leonard asked "Alright . . . what division are we dealing with here?" this prompted the first man to present several files containing information about the invading opposition, he then said "If you can successfully halt the German Wehrmacht here then this will be a crippling blow to Hitler's war effort".

After an hour of further negotiations, the two came back outside of the station to check on the unloading of their tank force, as of now Bastion Platoon and Serpent platoon were successfully unloaded and were starting to roll towards the staging area of the marked defensive line. A fellow tanker walks up to Leonard and Arnolf and asks "Sir, Hammer Platoon are unloaded where did you want them?" Arnolf replies "Hammer platoon . . . ja zhe artillery battery . . . hmm see if you can place zhem somewhere behind Bastion's position on zhe map". The tanker replied "Yes sir, we'll get right on it" and began to leave until Leonard stopped him "Hey whoa-whoa-whoa, you're new here . . . who are you?". The tanker gave a salute and introduced himself "Brentley sir, formerly part of Patton's third army". Leonard commented "Patton? Haven't heard that name for years" Brentley asked "You know him sir?". Leonard grinned and answered "Nope and I don't want to, get back to your platoon and get setup" Brentley chuckled and said "Yes sir" before returning to his M12 SPG. Arnolf commented "Ah amerikans, zhey don't make high quality panzers but zhey sure as hell make a lot of zhem" Leonard added "Don't forget about what those M12s carry, the tanks may be weak but that 155mm gun of theirs . . . jese talk about overkill".

[March 27th 1944]

The defensive line was finally completed, Bastion platoon had their heavy tanks spread out along the line and dug in to make sure only their turrets were exposed to the coming Germans, Serpent platoon lay in wait in the nearby woods so when they were needed they would be ready. Brentley's artillery platoon was positioned far back behind the first line and already had pre-positioned firing patterns, all they needed was the order to fire. Finally, Arnolf's and Leonard's tanks were positioned along the main road in dug out craters, they waited for two days and finally . . . the distant roar of the German Panzerwaffe was heard. Arnolf closed the top hatch of his Tiger's turret and made his first order to his crew "Remember, zhey are not our brothers . . . let's give zhem hell".

**Please leave your comments and thoughts. Thank you.**


	3. Panzer Vor!

**The Red Shield **

**Chapter 3**

"**Panzer vor!"**

[March 27th 1944]

Arnolf waited in his command chair, watching through his optics and preparing to give the order to fire. His loader pulls a 88mm _Pzgr. 40/43 Armor-piercing-composite-rigid_ round out of the storage compartment and rams the round into the Tiger's _KwK 43 L/71 _gun, after placing the round and locking the loading breech the loader yells out "Geladen!" to the gunner who waited for Arnolf's call. A minute has passed and Arnolf spotted the first enemy tank. " Achtung panzer!" he yells and then began giving his gunner the coordinates "Panzer lV, 43 degrees horizontal und 12 degrees vertical!". The gunner began turning the gun's crank in order to get a precise fix on Arnolf's coordinates, he gets a fix and calls out "Beriet!". Arnolf waited a few more seconds then ordered " . . . Feuer!". The gunner pulls the trigger and sent the 88mm round down range towards its poorly armored target. The main gun jerked backwards as it absorbs the massive recoil, after coming back to firing position the loader unlocks the breech and watched the spent casing be automatically kicked out of the barrel, he then repeats the loading process ending with "Geladen!". Arnolf watched the shell pierce the Panzer lV's nose plate where the transmission system was held, the tank then violently erupted in a fireball of flames as the tank's ammunition storage went up in a massive explosion.

A second Panzer lV appeared not too far behind the first and prepared to fire its 75mm gun but was quickly knocked out of action by Leonard's new 90mm gun attached to his ARL 44. Arnolf's radio operator then reports "Meneer! Bastion platoon are engaging enemy panzers and infantry on all fronts" Arnolf orders "Guten, get serpent zo relay firing coordinates zo hammer platoon, we need zheir artillery support now" the operator replies "Ja Meneer!" and relays the order. Leonard scores another kill as another Panzer lV comes into range, Arnolf looks back into his optics and found a new threat slowly coming towards them. "Tiger! -23 degrees horizontal und 13 degrees vertical! Feuer!", another 88mm round was sent down range and struck the approaching Tiger in its left spool, the impact broke the track segments apart and the Tiger came to a grinding halt. The loader was reloading as Arnolf watched the hostile Tiger aim its 88mm gun at him, suddenly Leonard scores the kill as another 90mm round strikes the Tiger's ammunition storage at the back of its turret. Arnolf's crew celebrated for a moment until a round struck the tank's glacises plate with a loud _"PANG"_.

Arnolf returns to his optics and finds another Panzer lV bearing down on him with its 75mm gun, shortly after without giving the order, a third 88mm round was fired down range and struck the new target dead in the center glacises plate. The operator reports "Meneer, Leonard reports zhat he has a couple of unwanted guests on his back" Arnolf gave a nod and opens the top hatch above him. He climbs out and spots to German soldiers on the back of Leonard's ARL, Arnolf then reaches into his tank jacket, draws his personal _C96 Mauser _pistol, and aims. He whistled to grab the soldiers attention and they both stood up and turned towards him. One was armed with an _MP-40_ SMG and had a cigar in his mouth, the other had a _Karabiner/98 Mauser_ bolt-action rifle in his hands and a swastika arm band on his left arm. Arnolf frowned furiously at the Nazi and shot him first square in the chest, as the first soldier fell off the other raises his _MP-40_ and prepared to fire but instead got shot in the side of the head by Leonard's Colt M1911 as he climbed out.

Soon after, Hammer platoon began their artillery fire and destroyed an incoming platoon of soldiers as well as 6 different panzer tanks, Arnolf closed the hatch above him and asks "How is Bastion holding out?" the operator reports "Meneer, zhey are starting zo become overwhelmed on zhe northern front". Arnolf orders "Alright, give Leonard zhe word zhat we are going zo assist Bastion platoon und give Serpent zhe green light". The operator grinned and responded "Ja Meneer", Arnolf's Tiger then went into reverse as it climbed out of its cover and began rolling north towards where the opposition was the strongest. It was about a fifteen minute drive to Bastion's position, the first thing Arnolf saw through his optics was a downed friendly tank engulfed in flames. The gunner rotated the turret to the right and prepared to fire on the first target he spots, Arnolf kept looking to see if anymore of Bastion were destroyed then suddenly he spots a British Churchill Vll heavy tank firing its 75mm gun and disabling an enemy Panzer lV. The Tiger came to a halt and the gunner fires again at a Jagdpanther Tank Destroyer, unfortunately the 88mm round bounces off its glacises plate. Then suddenly a British Cromwell cruiser tank comes out of the nearby woods and strikes the TD in the engine compartment and igniting the tank's fuel supply. Arnolf lets out a sigh of relief saying "Zhat was zo close" this prompted the gunner to reply "Nein meneer, zhat wasn't close enough, not like back in Paris ja?". Arnolf chuckles "Ja, those frauen almost had you back zhere didn't zhey?" the rest of the crew began to chuckle.

**Please leave your comments and thoughts. Thank you.**


	4. The unexpected

**The Red Shield**

**Chapter 4**

"**The unexpected"**

[March 28th, 1944]

Leonard was looking through the wreckage of the previous battle, they had lost three tanks but they inflicted numerous losses to the enemy. He was still pondering on why the Third Reich would want to invade Switzerland, could be so Hitler can gain control over the banks and fund his war effort or could it be so they can have a fallback position should Berlin fall? He comes up to a disabled enemy Panzer lV, it was shot in the glacises plate by what Leonard can guess was a 57mm gun from a British tank. Arnolf's Tiger tank comes rolling up from its position and Arnolf himself climbs out of the turret and asks "What a wunderfa display of gunfire zhe Nazis put up last night, nien?", Leonard grins "Yeah they sure did, I'm still wondering why they would come down here if they're needed to hold back the Allied Powers . . . got any ideas?". Arnolf placed his fingers around his chin and ponders; eventually he answered "Mm nien, I don't know . . . it could be a miscommunication". Leonard then comments "If it was a miscommunication then explain how come they were so organized in the assault", Arnolf hadn't thought about that part and replied "Zhen I have no clue . . ." Leonard returned to examining the Panzer lV and heard Arnolf's Tiger drive off into another point in the defensive line. Leonard placed his hand around the pierced armor and felt the ruggedness of the steel plates, he remembered how his parents never wanted him to participate in the war but he ignored their wishes and created the organization. He thought about his actions then decided he had to do something about it, one of his tank members came up to him and reports "The ARL took several hits but nothing major is damaged, we should operational in a few hours", Leonard replies "Good good, I'll let you take care of the repairs, there's some personal matters I need to tend to, I'll be back by sundown".

Arnolf reached the northern portion of the line and began to examine the results of the carnage; fellow tankers of the organization were resting by their tanks enjoying drinks and food. After a moment of driving, a tanker runs out in front of Arnolf's Tiger and tried to get Arnolf's attention "Arnolf! Arnolf!". The Tiger's driver slams on the breaks and caused the Tiger to jerk forward from the sudden stop, Arnolf cursed at the tanker "Dammit! What zhe hell were you zhinking!", the tanker replied "Sorry Arnolf but you have to come see this, it's pretty important". Arnolf climbed down the side of the Tiger and when he walked pass the tanker he said "Next time you do zhat, I'll zell zhe driver zo keep going, you understand?", the tanker nodded and lead Arnolf to what was so important.

It was noon when Leonard came to his parent's home, at first he hesitated to walk up the stone path and up the stairs, he thought to himself "I'm a tanker, if I can fight tank battles . . . I can sure as hell do this" and took a deep breath. He started to walk up the path towards the house, he walks up the stairs and stops at the front door, and before he knocked he thought about what could possibly happen. The worst possible thing is that his parents would disown him and tell him to leave their lives, he took one final breath and knocked three times on the door. Nothing occurred for the next several minutes until he heard the door unlock and open up, an elderly woman appeared from inside. She gave Leonard a good look the asked "So you have come home, why?" in her native language, Leonard answers "I'm sorry Mother, I come back to see you and Father . . . are you well?". The woman frowned and said "You did not come back to see us, you came back because of the contract. Your Father . . . is on the hill you two played around when you were young, if you wish to visit him". Leonard wondered how his Mother knew about the contract but disregarded it and said "I will bring Father home, then we can talk", his Mother then closed the door and walked away. Leonard got back in his rental car and drove to the hill to find his father.

Arnolf was dumbstruck when he saw what the tanker had to show him, "Zhe hell?" Arnolf said as he was looking at a recently disabled Russian _Kliment Voroshilov _(KV-1) heavy tank. The tanker stated "Apparently the Russians are involved in this as well, I thought the Germans and the Russians were at war with each other". Arnolf adds "Zhey are, but I guess zhey put aside zheir differences for a common goal . . . but what I don't know", the tanker asked "We do we do now? We have the Germans on us and now the Russians, I'm not sure if we can hold both of them off". Arnolf said "We'll just have zo hold out as long as possible, if not zhen we can pull several of our other panzer platoons from existing deployments zo aid us here".

That night, Arnolf was with his crew by the Tiger eating some food rations, Leonard comes out of the darkness and sits down by Arnolf's gunner. Arnolf picks up a spare ration and hands it to Leonard while asking "Did you complete your little personal endeavor my friend?" Leonard opens the ration and takes his first bite, he answers "Yeah, I went to see my parents". Arnolf asks "Ah zhat is guten, how were zhey?", Leonard said "Well, Mother is still the same woman as before . . ." and trails off. Arnolf raised an eyebrow and asked "und your father?", Leonard glances at the rest of Arnolf's crew and said "The old man passed away, he's buried at the hill we used to play around when I was a kid". The crew stopped eating and took a moment of silence, Arnolf said in an apologetic tone "Leonard, I'm sorry for your loss…". Leonard said "Don't worry about it . . . Mother said he passed knowing he was proud that I was doing something that made me happy", Arnolf grinned, he raised his cup of coffee and said "Ruhe in Frieden", the rest of Arnolf's crew raised their cups and spoke in unison "Ruhe in Frieden". Leonard grinned knowing that no matter what happens, Arnolf and the organization had his back, the gunner pats the back of Leonard's shoulder and they all resumed eating.

**Please leave your comments and thoughts. Thank you.**


	5. A new problem

**The Red Shield**

**Chapter 5**

"**A new problem"**

[April 2nd, 1944]

The organization was notified that a second German panzer battalion was on route to invade Switzerland, unfortunately the organization were unable to reinforce their defenses and were forced to make do with what they still had.

Leonard was waking up along with his crew by their ARL-44, it was morning and a heavy fog had set in, he couldn't see far as a hundred and twenty meters ahead but he began to hear laughter in the direction of Arnolf's Tiger tank. He slipped on his boots and walked over to find out what was all the commotion about, he crosses the street the two tanks were defending and finds Arnolf having a cup of coffee with his driver and radio operator. Arnolf noticed Leonard walking up and pours a cup for his good friend and hands to him while asking "Sleep well my friend?" Leonard takes a sip and replies "Yeah . . . what were you guys laughing about?". Arnolf chuckled as he explained "Ooh hahaha, Franz here made a pretty good joke a moment ago didn't you?" and the radio operator said "Ja meneer hahaha", Leonard asked "Well anyways, any word from Berlin?" Arnolf reaches back behind him and produces a paper saying "As a matter of fact . . . here it is, zhe German Wehrmacht has grinded to a full halt as allied forces push into zhe capital, Hitler himself had gone into hiding somewhere und zhe concentration camps are being found und decommissioned one by one". Leonard comments "Good, once Germany surrenders maybe we can finish this contract and leave", Arnolf noticed Leonard's rush to leave and asks "Leonard . . . is something zhe matter?" Leonard looks down the road towards Switzerland and replies quietly "Too many hurtful memories here now". Arnolf stood up with his empty cup and said "Don't zhink about zhe bad memories, focus on zhe good ones. Zhat's what my Mother has always zold me when I was in pain about losing someone." Leonard takes another sip as he said "Yeah . . . yeah I guess you're right Arnolf . . . it's just—"

Out of nowhere a crack of sniper fire rang out across the defenses and men scurrying to their tanks for safety, everyone took cover behind the Tiger tank, Arnolf had his C96 Mauser drawn and Leonard had his Colt. M1911. Arnolf slowly peeked his head around the corner of his tank hoping to find the shooter; Leonard asks "You see the kraut bastard? No offense" and Arnolf turns back saying "Nien, zhe fog is too thick zo see through and you can go zo hell for zhat kraut comment". Leonard knew Arnolf was only kidding and decided to peek around his corner, he couldn't see anything but then he caught a flash of light and immediately returned to cover before the bullet struck the side of the Tiger. "We can't see them but they sure as hell can see us" Leonard states frustratingly, Arnolf thought for a moment then hatched a plan, he said "Alright, zhe weapon zhey are using must be a _Karabiner 98 Mauser _bolt-action rifle, if we can get him zo shoot again without having one of our heads blown off in zhe process, we might have zhe time zo get one of us inside zhe Tiger". The driver was having a panic attack when he asked "Why makes you zhink he won't just shoot us when we move?!", Leonard answers "Because after each shot the bastard has to work the bolt every time giving us seconds to move onto the tank". Arnolf said "Alright, Franz you're going up first, after the first shot stay behind the turret and wait for the second", the radio operator nodded "Ja meneer". Arnolf nodded towards Leonard to make his move, Leonard acknowledged and edged towards the corner of the tank, he remembers where he found the flash and prepared to fire his Colt. Arnolf already had Franz's foot in his hands ready to give him a boost once the sniper had fired, Leonard peeked around the corner and quickly came back to cover the moment he saw the muzzle flash of the sniper's rifle, he then comes out of cover and fired upon the sniper's position to keep him down as Arnolf boosted Franz on to the Tiger's engine deck. Franz went into hiding behind the Tiger's turret and Leonard returned to cover before the sniper could shoot again. Arnolf said with a smile "Alright . . . my turn" as he and Leonard switched positions, Leonard cupped his hands to boost the driver up and Arnolf readied his C96, Leonard states "He's over by the tree on the left side of the road, you can't see him but wait for the flash" and Arnolf acknowledge "Ja . . . ready". Arnolf peeked around the corner and saw the flash before he could get back to cover, Leonard watched Arnolf collapse to the ground yelling in pain as the bullet strikes him in the head; he didn't have time to think as he boosted the driver onto the Tiger and the radio operator climbing into the Tiger's turret. Leonard quickly grabs Arnolf's right arm and pulls him into cover behind the Tiger, he checks Arnolf for any injuries, Arnolf was only grazed across the left side of his head but it completely went through his ear.

The Tiger's turret began to rotate slowly as the radio operator was solely operating the entire turret compartment; he already loaded a _PzGr. 39HL _high explosive round into the main gun and cranked the turret towards the sniper's position. Franz could only hope that the sniper was still focused on those still behind the tank to not notice the turret's rotation, he finally gets the gun on target and prepared to pull the trigger. He takes one last glimpse through the gunner viewport and pulls the trigger, the gun jerked backwards as the shell was launched out of the barrel and into the unsuspecting sniper's position, and the last thing he saw was the massive destructive capabilities of the 88mm HE round and a hint of a pink mist. The roar of the gun echoed through the air, Leonard looks around the corner hoping to see the tree intact but instead he found it toppled next to a crater. Franz climbs out of the turret's hatch and asked "Is everyone alright?" the driver who was hiding behind the turret said as he rubbed his ear "Just deaf ears my friend and Arnolf was hit but not fatally".

Several hours later, Arnolf was already rushed to a nearby medical facility and was diagnosed with a mild concussion; the doctors recommended that he would not participate in any upcoming combat engagements in hopes of not making his condition any worse. Leonard had just finished talking with the doctors and entered Arnolf's room finding him flirting with one of the nurses who was about to leave as Leonard came walking in. When the nurse left Arnolf comments "You never zold me zhat your country had such wunderfa frauleins Leonard, how could have you been holding out on me?". Leonard chuckled as he replies "Had I told you, you would never want to leave this place", the two men laughed and Arnolf's smile disappeared as he asked "I'm not getting back on zhe field any time soon am I?". Leonard's smile faded as well when he slowly shook his head 'no', he then said "At least now you have someone to keep you entertained don't ya buddy?". Arnolf began to laugh "Hahaha, good one . . . zhat is very true my friend, zhat is very true. Listen, I'll zry zo find a way zo help you guys when zhat second panzer battalion comes rolling in". Leonard placed his hand on his friend's shoulder and said "We'll help you out with that, in the meantime, you take care and . . . don't have too much fun ya hear?", Arnolf couldn't stop smiling as he finally said "Okay my friend . . . no . . . how zhe amerikans say ' shenanigans'". Leonard finally said "Alright friend . . . take care" and began to walk out the room but not before hearing Arnolf say "As always my friend . . . you be safe out zhere".

**Sorry for the wait everyone, I had some College issues that needed to be tended to. As always leave a comment and thought. Thank you.**


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